Charm Comes in Many Forms
by dragoscilvio
Summary: After a terrible accident to save Yusuke's life, Hiei is now injured and unable to protect himself. Seeing that that the Jaganshi's condition is growing steadily worse, Genkai makes a decision that she hopes will save his life.
1. Chapter 1

**So this isn't really meant to be a serious story, as the genre suggests, it is more of a family/humor story. The updates may be sporadic at best, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.**

**As always, I do not own anything, Yu Yu Hakusho belongs completely to its creators and animators. **

**Enjoy!**

"We…" Kurama spoke slowly, his pearly white teeth worrying at his bottom lip as he did so "may have a problem."

Yusuke sighed as a rope of dread curled up in his stomach and began to tie itself into sailor knots, because if Kurama was admitting that they were in trouble, then the possibility of death certainly hung in their future. They were wandering around Genkai forest looking for what they had assumed was a malevolent energy arcing from a distant corner of her property. The older woman had not recognized it, and the demons of their group confirmed that it was neither human nor demon energy, but whatever it was Kuwabara had made his demand that they deal with it quickly pretty clear due to the headaches he was getting from the amount of malicious intent that the energy was exerting. Hiei had merely smirked, claiming that anything that caused the oaf discomfort was welcome in his book, but before too long the Jaganshi found himself an unwilling helper as they tracked down the mysterious force.

This now left them where they were currently; walking through the forest in the dead of night, and slowly realizing that the energy they had been hunting had shifted and gave the eerie feeling that it was instead hunting them. Kurama shivered as he felt a burst of nostalgia ring through his mind, he had been in this position before, multiple hunters had tried to claim his pelt as a prize, but there was something about this atmosphere that set his teeth on edge and made him struggle against the unwelcome urge to find the nearest den and hunker down in fear until the danger had passed. The fox demon let out a slow breath as he gave a heavy gulp of apprehension, only thing could make him this uneasy…an exorcist.

"Ok," Yusuke finally whispered his breath misting in the darkness of the dimly moonlit forest "so what exactly are we dealing with?"

"An exorcist," the fox hissed.

Hiei cursed to one side, his body unconsciously shifting from confident and strong to slightly hunched in fear, his limbs twitching as preparation to run. Kuwabara watched this transformation with petrified eyes, shock enveloping his gaze at the usually stoic fire demon now looking much like a scared animal.

"Um," the lumbering teen began "how bad is that?"

"Nothing for _you_," Hiei spat "exorcists never hurt humans, its part of their code of honor. Unless a human has stained their hands with the blood of innocents and 'sold their soul' per say, an exorcist would pass right by you without even acknowledging your existence."

"Well, fine," Kuwabara shrugged feeling irritation burn in his stomach "great for me, but what does that mean for _you_?"

Hiei's eyes widened in shock at the oaf's concern, but he shook it away, and returned a wary gaze to the forest around them "Trouble."

"How much trouble?" This time it was Yusuke, who was also perturbed by the sudden paranoid looks the fire and fox demon were giving the trees standing around them.

"Honestly?" Kurama asked with a humorless chuckle "More than we can handle."

Yusuke sighed, a habit that had formed the day he first had become a spirit detective "Oh joy."

"Trust me detective," Hiei snarled as his body tensed and jumped at the sound of a cracking twig in the distance "joy has nothing to do with it."

"I was being sarcastic," Yusuke deadpanned "other people can be sarcastic other than you, ya know."

"Yes," Kurama nodded giving a small chuckle "but few people can be as charming."

"You call that," Yusuke scoffed pointing a finger at the pouting fire demon who was listening to their conversation "charming?!"

Kurama snickered and patted Yusuke on the shoulder "Charm comes in many forms."

Kuwabara snorted from where he was ducking behind a clump of bushes "I'll believe it when I see it," the carrot top muttered.

"Will you _shut up?!"_ Hiei finally snapped bringing the group to a quick, albeit amused, silence.

Hiei shook his head, unwilling to admit even to himself that their conversation filled him with warmth. It was strange having a group of people he could trust talking about him, and making jokes without being cruel. The insults were all in fun, and even the fire demon had to acknowledge that he deserved them with his behavior, but the thing that got him so wired was the fact that there was an exorcist, an experienced one by the feel of it, currently shielding himself in the trees and was even able to hide his location from the Jagan. Hiei didn't get rattled easily, but if he was fighting an enemy that he couldn't see, and had no way of knowing where they were or what kind of power they held, that was when he got nervous. Adding in the fact that it was an exorcist, and now anyone within a ten foot radius could visibly see that he was stressed out, and more than a little jumpy.

Exorcists were not fun, they were people trained from birth to exterminate demons, a special clan of beings that had power above even sacred energy. Hiei had not dealt with any in his short lifespan, and he had hoped to keep it that way, but as usual his hopes were dashed to pieces. Now they were facing one, and curse of all curses, this particular hunter knew how to negate his Jagan and keep himself hidden from them completely. Looking to his side, the fire demon gulped apprehensively when he saw how Kurama was casting his senses helplessly around their environment, even going so far as to go halfway to youko in order to claim the extra sensory abilities but to no avail, Kurama still could not sense, or smell their enemy, and Hiei felt his stomach sink as he suddenly fought the irrational urge to run back to the temple and hide under a blanket in front of the fire.

The fire demon hated weakness, especially fear, but he was not so much of an idiot that he would stomp into a field of battle that he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt was more than just a little dangerous, it was suicidal. This train of thought was strange for the small jaganshi, especially since it was his reckless abandon that had helped him in taming the black dragon, but ever since the tournament, and realizing that he was living not for himself, but for the ones who had begun to see him as friend and family, Hiei had slowly started embracing the idea of staying alive, for them if nothing else. Dying would let them down, would hurt them, and Hiei was extremely protective of those he allied himself with, if he were the one causing them pain, then the fire demon considered that an act of betrayal and he refused to take part in that.

Closing his eyes, Hiei opened his Jagan as far as it would go, his entire focus being on protecting this group of people that had wiggled their way unbidden into his heart, then cast his senses out. He searched for that one thing, anything that would betray the exorcist's position, and for a few moments he saw all he had been seeing, nothing but trees, however that quickly changed.

Like a flash of lightning, Hiei felt the exorcist pull the trigger on his crossbow, and as the bolt left the bow the fire demon could hear a small surge of the hunter's emotions leak through his shield _"The Mazoku is mine…"_

Hiei's eyes widened as he realized that Yusuke was the man's target and leapt from his spot in the trees to tackle Yusuke and roughly shove him out of the way, but he was not quick enough to completely evade the arrow altogether. An explosion of excruciating pain burst through his side along his ribs, causing the small demon to let out a heart wrenching scream of unbridled agony. The jaganshi crumpled to the ground, his hands clutching his side as he writhed in the dirt, his white teeth bared at the moon as he struggled to contain any more shrieks that were clawing their way up his throat.

"Hiei!" Yusuke yelled scrambling over to his friend.

"N-No!" Hiei gasped, his face twisted in pain as he weakly pushed Yusuke away "he's a-after you…r-run!"

"What?!" Yusuke burst his brown eyes wide with panic at his friend's current state.

"I said, RUN!" Hiei screamed in his face.

Yusuke went still, sensing the urgency in Hiei's voice, but refused to move and leave his friends in the forest with a maniac "Kurama," he ordered "take care of Hiei!"

"It would be best of Kuwabara were to carry him to the temple," the fox countered as he gave Yusuke a shove to get him started on running "there is less of a chance of the hunter trying to finish the job if there is the possibility that he has to hurt a human to do so."

"Fine, whatever," Yusuke snapped "but I'm not running away like some scared little girl while my friend is hurt!"

"I-Idiot," Hiei wheezed, his eyes fluttering as he fought to stay conscious "just r-run already so I c-can get this arrow out."

Angry brown eyes softened when Yusuke once again looked at the injury sustained by the small demon, and finally nodded "Let's go," he growled.

Kuwabara stooped down, and gathered Hiei into his arms, careful not to jostle the arrow sticking out of the demon's side. Hiei was trembling violently as his body went into shock, and the teen shuddered at the feel of warm blood dripping from the wound. The Jaganshi's skin had begun to pale to a deathly gray pallor, and his breath was becoming increasingly shallower as he fought for air. Finally after what felt like an eternity of fighting, Hiei gave one last shudder, and fell limp against Kuwabara's chest, his eyes slipping closed as he fell into oblivion. Gritting his teeth in anger, the carrot top clutched the small demon protectively and immediately began sprinting in the direction of the temple, though his warrior spirit raged at him to turn around and avenge Hiei the large teen turned his face towards home and safety.

**So, how was that?**

**Let me know!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here we go with Chapter 2! Hope ya'll enjoy!**

**Once again, I don't own anything.**

"GENKAI!" Yusuke screamed as he burst through the front door of the temple.

The old woman looked up irritably at her wayward student and let out a huff of annoyance "Shut up dimwit, you don't have to yell. I already know that Hiei was hurt, and Botan is preparing to take care of his injuries, so sit down and stop freaking out."

Yusuke grit his teeth, one fist rising as he fought the urge to punch the old woman, but held himself back from doing so "Where's Botan?" he finally snarled.

"In Hiei's room down the hall," Genkai replied calmly sipping her tea "take half pint there."

Kuwabara, already having entered the temple and heard Genkai's answer, merely nodded and quickly walked their injured friend to the room he sometimes used when he stayed at the shrine. The former detective felt his heart clench as he watched a blood trail follow the lumbering teen, and lowered his fist, the scowl quickly replaced by a wince of concern. His Adams apple bobbed up and down as he gave a heavy swallow, and then turned to his teacher.

"I'm…" the dark haired teen spoke softly in a hoarse voice "gonna go check on Hiei."

Genkai nodded, standing up so that she could go assist with patching the fire demon as well, but was stopped by a certain green eyed red head "Yes Kurama?"

"Genkai," Kurama began his emerald orbs serious "what hurt Hiei tonight, was an exorcist."

The old woman sighed and nodded "I recognized the arrow as the idiot walked by, extracting it will not be easy."

Kurama opened his mouth, and then paused; wringing his delicate hands in front of him in an uncharacteristic gesture of helplessness "Few demons survive the extraction of an exorcist's weapon." He finally muttered in a fearful whisper.

Genkai's features softened at the amount of terror infecting the group, and softly placed her hand on top of Kurama's, causing the teen to look up with slightly wet eyes "I know," the woman replied gently "but you can bet that we are going to do everything we can to ensure Hiei does."

Kurama nodded, one hand quickly swiping at his eyes as he regained his composure and started towards the room where Hiei was, Genkai followed knowing full well that saving Hiei's life would be much easier said than done.

"Oh Genkai, I'm so glad you're here," Botan gasped as the duo entered the room "we need to get the arrow out of Hiei immediately, he's developed a high fever, and he's barely able to breathe!"

"Calm down," Genkai scolded as she took a seat beside the bleeding fire demon.

With tender hands, the teacher took a pair of scissors and cut Hiei's shirt away from his body, and probed the injury. A small whine of pain slipped from the unconscious Jaganshi, his body curling away from Genkai, and hazy ruby red eyes fluttered open. "…H-Hurts…" he murmured.

"I know buddy," Yusuke said, a callused hand reaching down to grip one of Hiei's "we're going to get that thing out of you."

Botan reached forward, fingertips trailing Hiei's face only to recoil back at the heat "Genkai, we need to do this now, his fever is increasing by the minute!"

"W-wait," Kuwabara stammered, his face taut with the fear he was sensing from the group "I don't understand, I mean, it's just an arrow. We've seen Hiei take worse damage than this, and he just walked it off like it was nothing, why is everyone freaking out?"

"Because Kuwabara," Kurama spoke softly one hand gripping the carrot top's shoulder "an exorcist's weapon is so much more devastating than any normal attack we have come across. Just being cut by one would render even the strongest demon helpless for days, making them violently ill, and Hiei was hit by an exorcist's arrow. His continued exposure to the energies within the arrow, not to mention the materials used to create the thing, will make it difficult for him to survive the extraction…much less recovery."

The carrot top bit his bottom lip, his heart clenched with fear "Is…Is Hiei going to die?"

Kurama cast sorrowful green eyes to the floor, unable to look at his friend while speaking the dreaded words "There is a strong possibility…that he will not survive."

"Well what are we waiting for?" Yusuke growled from the side his hand still gripping Hiei's "The only way to save him is to get it out of him, right? So let's stop the yakking and get with the healing."

Genkai smirked before turning back to the rest of the group "Come on, you heard the man, let's get this over with."

Kurama nodded, before growing a stout branch and placing it between Hiei's teeth "Bite down on this if the pain become too much," he said firmly "I can't give you any anesthetic, so you'll just have to bare the pain."

Hiei merely nodded, casting red eyes up to the ceiling. His body felt so hot, so unbearably hot, he was tired and his side throbbed painfully "Just get the arrow out," he gasped around the piece of wood.

"Right," Genkai reached down and grabbed the arrow her eyes narrow and serious as she turned to the three boys "Kurama, you and Yusuke hold Hiei's arms, and Kuwabara you brace his legs, this is going to get messy."

The boys nodded, but Botan cast a concerned look at Genkai "But…" she murmured "Getting the arrow out won't be enough, the more demon energy he use then the more violent the poison will be. The poison is designed to destroy high levels of demon energy, which is why the stronger the demon is, the more vulnerable they are to attack against an exorcist. Hiei is strong, and has an enormous amount of demon energy at his disposal, how will he survive recovery?"

"Because I have a plan," Genkai smirked "there is a way to help him survive the poison, though I admit it's a tad radical."

"What do you mean radical?" Yusuke queried.

"Enough yap!" the older woman snapped "Let's get Hiei taken care of, and then you'll see what I mean!"

The boys positioned themselves, each guarding a limb; as Genkai reached down to grasp the arrow. With a deep breath, the teacher slowly exhaled before giving a violent yank. Hiei's back arched as he released an agonized shriek, his eyes clenched shut as his chest heaved for air. Botan reached down, her hands covering the wound as blood poured through her fingers and onto the floor, and she grit her teeth as she focused her energies into knitting the hole. Kuwabara shut his eyes against the fire Jaganshi's agonized cries, and held onto the thrashing legs, hoping that it would be over soon. Kurama and Yusuke did not fare much better, both were struggling to hold each arm, each grieving for their friend as they watched with sorrowful eyes the hot tears well up in the corners of Hiei's vision.

Botan bit her lip, pouring all her energy into healing Hiei's wound, until finally the blood stopped gushing, and Hiei's writhing ceased. The fire demon lay gasping on the floor, choked sobs stifled by a clenched throat and the piece of wood between his teeth. His arms and legs trembled feebly, and the small demon felt dizzy as he drifted in and out of consciousness.

"Now!" Genkai rasped as she began to chant.

Botan assisted, running around Hiei placing various talismans around him, her lavender eyes narrow with concentrated determination to see her friend survive this ordeal "All's ready to go."

Energy gathered around Genkai like a miniature tornado, until the woman shouted the last incantation, causing the power to explode around her and envelop the barely conscious fire apparition. Hiei's body slowly began to float up into the air, his skin glowing a phosphorescent blue, until his frame became steadily smaller. It shrunk while the group watched in shock, their eyes growing ever wider as the show came to an end, and Hiei floated back down to the floor. In the place of the fire demon, was a small child of five, spiky black hair topped a pale face framing large ruby eyes.

Sitting up, the boy rubbed his eyes, and focused his fevered gaze on the people surrounding him "So," the child began "the bandits sold me as a slave again."

Yusuke felt his brain reel in shock. _This_ was Genkai's plan?! Kuwabara also sat in confused shock, his jaw hanging agape at the transformation that had taken place in the warrior. Kurama was the first to recover however, as he quickly gathered his wits enough to pose an answer.

"No," he smiled gently, fishing for an explanation "you are not our slave Hiei, we have taken you in as…our younger…brother."

"Heh," the five year old scoffed "so I'm to believe that you rescued me out of the goodness of your heart human?"

"You don't have to believe it," Yusuke shrugged reaching forward to ruffle Hiei's head "but that doesn't make it any less true."

Confused ruby eyes assessed Yusuke, before his attention was drawn away from the strange human and towards Botan as she felt his forehead to check his temperature "He still feels feverish."

"Don't touch me!" the child cried out, his eyes wide with fear and hurt.

Hiei gazed on the woman, his five year old brain reeling as her blue hair caused painful memories to spring up in his heart "Leave me alone!" he shouted scrambling behind Yusuke as his breath began to come in short the gasps of hyperventilation.

"Hey," Botan said soothingly as she knelt in front of him and reached out a slim hand "I'm not going to hurt you."

Hiei slapped her hand away, running towards the door, his fever making his steps unsteady as he swayed from a dizzy spell "NO!"

The small boy tripped, falling onto the floor, just as the door slid open revealing an ice maiden "I heard shouting and screaming," Yukina quavered "is everything alright?"

Hiei's chest heaved as he processed the girl standing before him, before suddenly running over to hide behind Kuwabara and bursting into uncontrollable screaming sobs "NO! NOnononono! Leave me ALONE! I don't wanna go! Keep her away!"

"Whoa," Kuwabara wrapped his arms around the crying child and holding him close "it's ok little guy."

Yusuke looked at Kurama, giving him a questioning glance over why Hiei was acting that way, and the fox merely shrugged in response while the carrot top stood up and carried the boy over to Yukina "See," Kuwabara said one hand softly stroking Hiei's head "she isn't scary."

Hiei shook his head biting Kuwabara's hand making the teen drop him with a yelp "No, I don't wanna go with her, leave me ALONE!"

"Hiei, it's ok," Botan said walking towards the boy, which resulted in him going even further into hysterics.

Finally Yusuke ran over, scooping Hiei up into his arms just as the group was converging on the child "Will all of you just leave the kid alone?!" he yelled "Just in case you forgot, Hiei's sick, and now he's freaking out, and all of you ganging up on him isn't helping him any!"

Kurama smiled gently at the blatant paternal instincts in Yusuke, while the others backed away. Yusuke huffed in irritation, holding Hiei close to his chest "I'm going to take little guy with me, and he'll stay in my room tonight, if I need anything or if his fever gets worse I'll call for Genkai but until then no one bug him, ok?"

Silent nods were his reply, and Yusuke left the room with his precious armful "Don't worry little man," the former detective smiled at his young charge "like Kurama said, I'm your big brother, and I won't let anything hurt you."

"Are…" Hiei paused, unsure of whether to continue.

"What is it?" Yusuke asked turning a corner down the hall and heading to his room.

"Are you," the boy asked softly "are you a daddy?"

Yusuke stopped, his eyes bugged out before bursting into laughter "What, me? No! Why would you ask that?"

"It's just," the little fire baby looked down before cuddling into Yusuke's chest and whispering "I think you would be a good one."

Finishing the walk to his room, Yusuke squeezed the child in a tender hug "Thanks Hiei."

**Everybody go "AWWW"**

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